Week 6 ~ Dance
Energizers! It’s time to DANCE!
You might be saying, “wait, what? I did NOT sign up for a dance course…”
Don’t worry. I’m not literally going to make you dance. But I AM going to tell you that in a very loose interpretation of the word, you’re already dancing…
But first things first. Download the “Week 5 Reflections” worksheet below to just do a lil’ check-in with #1.
Now! Onto THE DANCING!
(I kid, I joke…)
In Sanskrit (the original language of yoga) the word for “dance” is “Nataraj.”
There is a pose - dancer pose - called “Natarajasana.” And there is a common phrase within the philosophy of yoga:
The Dance of Shiva.
Natarajasana ~ Dancer Pose
Now, we’d better back up and talk about who Shiva (or Siva, as it is often spelled) is.
Shiva is an archetype (or character) in one of the many stories that are told as a part of yoga philosophy. We use these stories to relate to and understand the many circumstances that we go through in life. The same way that we have all grown up with stories from movies and children’s fables.
So, who is Shiva and - equally important - who is his consort (or partner)?
(We’ll cover the consort part next week)
Shiva
Shiva is the lord of the whole universe. He owns the process of liberation, is the ruler of thought, helping us to have a calm mind, and keep sorrows at bay. He embodies the qualities of the divine masculine and the concept of “pure consciousness.”
Think of the word, “conscious.” You know that its a state of being. If we are unconscious, we’re knocked out - not quite sleeping, but not present and aware of what’s going on. So pure consciousness is less a thing that we can tangibly touch and see, and yet we understand that thoughts are real, and therefore, consciousness is real.
“Pure” consciousness implies that ideas exist in a plane that is very real, and yet we cannot touch or see it in the gross plane of our physical reality. It’s esoteric, and abstract because it has no form yet.
Think about if you had never seen an apple before. You would have no image in your mind, no taste in your mouth, no understanding that this is a fruit that grows on trees and comes in a multitude of colors. And yet, as humans we can create new hybrid fruits - the kiwi is one such example. Before they existed in our real physical plane, they existed as “pure consciousness” in the energy field of the fruits from which they were derived.
We, as humans are much the same. We are born as an egg during the time that our mother’s sex organs are being developed in her mother’s womb.
Think about that:
You already existed in some physical form the entire time your mother has been on this earth.
Now, if you have children, your children were not yet in the physical manifested plane of what can be measured or poked at, but does that mean your children aren’t real? No, it means they were still existing in the unmanifested plane as “pure consciousness.”
To a certain extent, this is what quantum physics seeks to understand and measure!
So this is what shiva represents. You might think of “pure consciousness” as potential. (Which was the theme of last week’s mindfulness exercises.)
Shiva The Destroyer
Shiva is often called “The Destroyer.” The reason for this is that in order for an unmanifest idea to become a reality - for us to realize our potential - there is a mountain of work (or Dharma), backed up by a truckload of will (Iccha), and change that must take place. That process is often chaotic and seemingly destructive. After all, in order for something new to come through, it must displace something else.
If you want to put a face to Shiva that we can relate to he might be like Arnold Schwarzenegger: Strong, confident, calm, a ruler by nature, very much a master of will, might, and physical force, without flinching to the difficult tasks at hand.
Dance
As Shiva brings forth is wisdom of pure consciousness, potential, growth, and inevitable destruction, there is a process that he must go through. Next week we’ll talk about Shiva’s partner (or cohort as they are often called in yoga philosophy) with whom he dances, indefinitely through all of eternity…
But for this week, I want you to think about the last time you
just
let
loose.
Danced (like no one’s watching, as they say). Allowed yourself to be free from inhibitions, throwing obligation and propriety aside? Like that time you went to uncle Larry’s wedding to his 3rd wife, and you really didn’t want to make small talk with the extended family so you had one too many of the bad white wine and decided “what the hell? There’s no one here I really care about impressing,” so you BUSTED LOOSE on the dance floor.
Remember that time? Remember how fun it was? Spontaneous? Unplanned? And how, you actually enjoyed yourself, and surprisingly, the next day, you didn’t feel too bad, despite the bad wine?
When we allow ourselves to “step into the dance,” without needing perfect conditions, we are allowing ourselves to let loose of expectations.
This week, my dear Energizers, I want you to find a time to LET. LOOSE. Maybe this will be on your mat. Or maybe it will be somewhere else entirely - after all, yoga does not only happen on a modern yoga mat made in a factory in China. ;) Yoga is happening all the time, throughout our lives.
Dance, bunnies, dance.
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